gretchen and brian will be back, anna and peter, thank you very much. also tomorrow, laura ingraham joins us and we hope you do, too. so long, everybody. >> anna: bye. bill: country music world is mourning one of its troubled stars. mindy mccready whose rise to fame was sidetracked by personal problems apparently taking her own life. she was only 37 years old. good morning i'm bill hemmer. welcome on a monday edition. president's day of a "america's newsroom.". >> good to be here. she may have been young but leaves behind a legacy. i'm in for martha today. police are saying that mindy shot herself on the very same porch where her boyfriend had taken his own life. after rocketing to fame in the late '90s mccready was in and out of trouble for a decade, arrested multiple times.

doing stints in rehab for drugs and alcohol bill: she told abc news back in 2011 that she was trying to get back on the road to redemption. >> i have vigorously gone out and tried to learn from my mistakes and tried to better myself every way possible. there is nobody that wants to be better at being me than me. bill: casey stiegel is live for us this morning. she had a lot of struggles at the end of her life, casey. >> reporter: bill, she did, struggles that really started and came to a head back in 2004 when she pleaded guilty to illegally obtaining the powerful prescription meld sin oxycontin. she was put on probation. she violated her probation after being arrested for drunk driving in florida. after being put on probation,

her boyfriend severely beat her so badly she he was charged with attempted criminal homicide. she tried to take her life in 2005 and 2008. mindy mccready was hospitalized in 2010 for a drug overdose. she did a stint on celebrity rehab with the dr. drew, the tv show. she made apologies to her fans and judges throughout the years. >> just want to say thanks for the continued support. my fans are unbelievable. they have sent me letters of encouragement that have truly been touching and just one more step getting all this over with so i can go back to being a singer and a mom and concentrating on things that are good for my life. i'm sorry that i have to keep seeing all of you guys in court. i hope in the future i get to see you guys elsewhere performing or something like that. >> reporter: she took her own life in kleburn county,

arkansas where she had been living. coroner said she died from a single gunshot wound to her head. disever coulded on the front porch of her home where her boyfriend died last month. bill: she had a public custody battle over her two children, casey. >> reporter: she did. in 2011 she took her oldest son away from her mother. her mother was the boy's legal guardian and fled with him to arkansas. authorities took the boy back there. last month her father told a judge that mccready was no longer taking care of herself or her two boys because of her substance abuse. and at that time, the two boys were taken away from her all together. and they were put into foster care and bill, obviously with two little oneses this tears your heart out even more. bill: indeed it does. casey stiegel leading coverage from dallas. casey. jamie: mccready shot to flame very quickly and sadly

burned just as quick lift after arriving in nashville as a teenager in 1994 earning a recording contract just on strength of her karaoke tapes. in 1996 the single, 10,000 angels went double platinum. there were four top singles, including the number one hit, guys do it all the time. that was the same year mccready was nominated as top new female vocalist at the country music awards. >> news spread quickly on twitter with many country stars expressing condolences. care reunderwood dweets, i grew up listening to mindy mccready. so sad for the family. many prayers go out to them. john rich from big and rich. when i was in lone star she was our label mate and we were friends. a tragic end to a talented life. leann rimes, my heart goes out to mindy mccready's family. i knew her well. it is a horrible tragedy.

may peace be with her sons. especially the children after a troubled young life. jamie: she is with the angels she sung about. meantime, fox news alert. there were thousands of protesters that flooded the national mall and they are demanding that president obama reject the keystone xl oil pipeline. listen. >> what!. jamie: organizer are saying this particular protest to remind the president of the pledge he made in his inaugural address to act on climate change. but the pipeline backers, they say it would create jobs and could bring down gas prices by transporting hundreds of thousands of fall license of oil per day from canada to refineries in texas. the protests come as aaa reports the price of a gallon of regular unleaded is now $3.73, a 43 cent jump from just a month ago. stuart varney is the host of "varney & company" on the

fox business network. stu, good morning. how does the pipeline debate link in with those rising gas prices? >> that's a very good question, jamie. here's the story. the price of gas is going straight up. that slows the economy. that makes the job market worse. we need jobs obviously. if the president says yes, go ahead and build the pipeline, you do get jobs. so that's the connection between the pipeline debate, rising gas prices and jobs. it's not that building a pipeline would necessarily bring the price of gas down in the near term. it almost certainly would not. that if you build the pipeline you create jobs that make up for the slowing economy because of high gas prices. circular argument but that's the way it is. jamie: the pushback clearly is in his campaign and inaugural speech he promised clean energy and green-friendly jobs and this could potentially stop him from doing the pipeline. >> well, i don't know about that but, you got to ask, why are gas prices going up

right now? the answer has nothing to do with the pipeline. the answer is refineries with very tight supplies of gasoline coming onto the market, refineries are closing for maintenance and closing so that they can switch over to the summer blend of gasoline which we start using in a couple of weeks, a couple of months. that takes gas out of the system. that raises the price of gas. so the real question here is, is this gas price spike going to continue? and the answer is, in the near term yes it is because we're changing our refinery runs. that is what's happening. >> it really hits folks in the pocketbook at a time of year, but unexpected to rise this much early in the year, isn't it? >> it is very different. yes, a 43 cent rise at this time of year is very unusual because you don't normally get gas prices rising sharply until the spring and early summer. it has come early this time around and come big.

never before with very paid $3.73 for a gallon of regular in mid-february. by the average price of regular in california, $4.16 a gallon right now and rising. jamie: that is huge. yep. not so much driving. stu, have a great show. thanks for joining us. >> thank you, jamie. >> 4 clin 15 in suffolk county, new york, and it is climbing. hawaii is seeing some of the highest price, averaging $4.26 a gallon followed by california as stuart mentioned there. some of the cheapest gas is found in montana and wyoming where a gallon of unleaded averages only $3.18. huge stuff. jamie: another fox news alert. there is an al qaeda affiliated terror group that is claiming responsibility for a string of car bomb attacks we've seen in baghdad. coordinated bombings killing at least 37 people and injuring many others. according to statements they

posted online, the attack was retaliation against a shiite-led government for alleged crimes against sunni muslims. more than 100 people hurt in the homicide blasts. bill: we have a jam-packed hour straight ahead. the white house leaking the plan for immigration reform. why marco rubio says it is doa, it is dead on arrival and it does not help. we'll debate that in a moment. jamie? jamie: it also lit up the sky, sent a city into a panic. check this out. scientists say they have recovered the first fragments of the meteor that crashed into the planet but is that really what it was? bill: outrage high in the sky when a airline passenger is accused of slapping his toddler that wasn't even his own. now the little boy's mother is telling us why. >> his mouth was in my ear and he said it again, but even more hateful and he was in my face, so i pushed him away. that is when he slapped

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bill: new fallout over this leaked white house immigration reform proposal. key republican senator marco rubio, he is already come out and slammed it. it's a mistake for the white house to draft immigration legislation without seeking input from republican members of congress. if actually proposed the president's bill would be dead on arrival in congress leaving us with unsecured borders and a broken legal immigration system for years to come. what about this? kirsten powers, columnist for "the daily beast", fox news contributor. tony sayegh is former press aide to vie presidential nominee jack kemp and. good morning to both of you. who is your favorite president? we'll save it for later. tony what is it going on here? was it intentional leak? is anything unintentional in washington. >> this is a intentional, bill. the president is outlyer in this debate where there is

ton of bipartisan consensus in capitol hill at a time we don't have consensus on much. comprehensive immigration reform is for a opportunity to score. i fear he is snatching defeat out of the jaws of victory. marco rubio has a very tough job to sell a plan being endorsed as you saw in the press conference, senator menendez, senator schumer, among the most liberal. for the president, while senator rubio is trying to make the case to more conservative colleagues in the house, president float as parallel bill that frankly stops short of amnesty, if not is total amnesty does not help the effort to really pass bipartisan reform. it undermines it. it makes it difficult for senate democrats will have more liberal members saying wait a minute, the president's plan is much more appealing to us than yours, why should we compromise? i don't know why the president saw fit to really kind of confuse the situation when there is really bipartisan concensus. bill: let me bring in

kirsten. i will get details why rubio will oppose it. tony says you're snatching defeat from the jaws of victory. >> did you say it was like amnesty, the president's plan? >> the president's plan follows kennedy, mccain plan of 2007 which was amnesty. >> i thought i misheard you because it is not, saying it will take eight years to become a citizen is the about the fartherest thing i can think from amnesty. i support amnesty. there is nothing about this of amnesty in my mind. there wasn't amnesty in the kennedy bill either. i think the president gets criticized when he doesn't have a plan for health care. now he gets criticized for having a backup plan for immigration. i don't think this is something that, not something he submitted or released or anything like that. i think it is good they have a plan in case it comes to that. bill: well the white house is saying that it is an incomplete draft. >> obviously. bill: cbs news is reporting that it was not anmaed leak. >> why compete.

bill: i don't know about what unplanned leak is out there. rubio's problem says the idea on its face does not secure the borders number one. which leads to a multitude of problems down the road and it creates a pathway for those who came here illegally first of all to jump ahead in the line who are awaiting legally from overseas. tony. >> it runs potential someone here in undocumented fashion getting a green card quicker than someone who goes through the legal immigration process. number one. number two, the absolute nonnegative goshable variable for republicans is border security. president makes unsesfied promise he will dedicate resources to border security. this is 1954-mile long border. it is very finite. it is a solveable problem. republicans say let's secure the border so we don't have future illegal immigration issues and solve the issue of current undocumented people in america right now

by having a bipartisan bill. why would we do it, why would the president's plan be necessary if we already have people agreeing? bill: does rubio have a point, kirsten? you have to secure the border first to prevent issues from coming back on you years down the road? >> yeah. obama done a pretty good job securing the border. i don't really, i don't really think that is the most important thing. i think it is more important to bring the people out of the shadows. i don't think it should take eight years for them to become a citizen. bill: when does he do it? >> i'm for amnesty. i would do exactly what ronald reagan. bill: right now? >> yeah. i would do exactly what ronald reagan did. >> what reagan did, didn't fix the problem. >> i don't, honestly understand what the complaint is here by republicans that the president is putting together a plan on the off chance that congress can't get something done. congress has shown that they're actually pretty bad at getting things done. so i think it is smart for the president to have something to, have a plan. this is not the final plan.

so it is a draft plan. and i think it is a responsible thing for them to be doing. bill: first review was not favorable. i have to go. thanks for coming in on a holiday. doa was the operative acronym out of rubio and think that is the way this one is headed. more to come, tony, thank you, kirsten as well. 18 past the hour. jamie has a bit more now. jamie: meanwhile senator rubio's infamous water-drinking moment to the republican response for state of the union it has become a unique opportunity for him, since taking that sip, senator rubio has sold 3,000 branded water bottles and raised one $100,000. they are available on line for anyone making a $25 donation to his political action committee. bill: that must be tasty water. great placement. there is new details now on the murder charges against "the blade runner". why police are said to be

reportedly want the sprinter to undergo blood tests for steroids. also there's this. >> oh!. [sirens] jamie: scientists found pieces of meteor that crashed into earth. now there are people, as you can imagine, who are trying to cash in. >> look. , nothing else. it works, simple as that. it's a natural source of fiber and five essential vitamins. it's the smart choice for me. stay fit on the inside with sunsweet's amazing juices.

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bill: we're hearing from russian scientists. they say they recovered the first fragments of the meteor that exploded in the atmosphere on friday. they found rocks near the lake where the meteor broke a large hole in the eyes. the scientists say the rocks are a mix of iron, sulfite and other materials and they're searching for bigger pieces of it.

they will find it eventually. people are trying to sell what they claim are fragments on ebay, imagine that. 1200 people were injured when the meteor hit. mostly from broken glass. jamie: pictures are incredible. there are some new twists and turns in a stunning murder case against south african sprinter oscar pistorius. there's word now that the 26-year-old olympic athlete will reportedly be tested for steroids after the banned substance was found at the house where he is accused of killing his girlfriend, here she is. police say the 29 model was shot four times through, he claims, the bathroom door. mark fuhrman is a former l.a.p.d. homicide detective. mark, great to see you this morning. good morning. >> thank you, jamie. jamie: mark, first of all, there had to be security cameras there. so say there's video that shows exactly what happens, what can you read into that to tell whether or not he thought it was a prowler or he knew his girlfriend was in there? >> well, jamie in, i mean

just on face value, and we're not there to look at this, you have a very affluent neighborhood, a very rich resident that has admittedly security systems. he claims a burglar came in. there is no forced entry. i suspect there is no evidence of anybody outside the residence coming in on the security system. then he claims a burglar, he startles a burglar and the burglar hides in the bathroom. i have got some bad news for the suspect in this case. burglars don't hide in the bathroom. when they are startled they get out of the house. then he shoots through the door. it is ludicrous at best. jamie: also when you look at the evidence in the case, and we know she was shot many times, there was also a bloodied cricket stick. so the question is, how badly was she injured? is it relevant when he called for help or didn't? >> well, it's very relevant. now you can call for help

and, it's going to be very hard to bracket when the incident occurred and when he called for help. i mean it could have been immediately or it could have been 15, 20 minutes later because she was pronounced dead at the scene. you look at a bloodied cricket bat. she also had a fractured skull. let's try to pace ourselves through this incident. two or three hours before the police arrived, domestic disturbance. everybody is drinking. that continues because the neighbors report that they hear voices and yelling coming from the residence. then there's shots. well, so what happens in the residence? we have a argument that escalates. cricket bat is used. she is hit in the head. she has a fractured skull. she tries to hide in the bathroom. he shoots through the door. jamie: let me bring up they found steroids in the house and he is being tested it is being reported. if it is 'roid rage, let's say plays a role, how does

that work for a prosecutor, how does that work for a defense? >> it doesn't work for a defense at all. it is not a diminished capacity because he is taking illegal drugs. if that's the case, they should have done a blood-alcohol because he was probably also drunk because there was heavy drinking going on. it is not a defense. you remember that they're considering this a premeditated murder. now premeditation can form in split seconds, but once he strikes her with the cricket bat, and then she leaves, now he forms that opinion of, i'm going to kill her by getting the gun and shooting through the door. so there is your premeditation. i think the defense will be hard-press to do anything except for keep him out of jail for the rest of his life. jamie: that's a big deal, if they up it to premeditation. so we'll keep an eye on it, mark. great to have your wisdom on this with so many investigations under your belt. thanks, mark. >> thank you, jamie. jamie: bill? bill: there will be more headlines out of this tomorrow because he is back in court. jamie: he may make a

statement as well. bill: yeah. so the white house press corps is none too happy. they were shut out president obama's vacation and his golf game with tiger woods. this morning they are asking, the reporters who cover the man, what happened to the pledge of transparency? jamie: how about this, bill? this is so huge. history in the making at daytona. danica patrick winning the top slot in the race, the first time for a woman. what does it mean for the support? ♪ ♪ [ slap! ] [ male announcer ] your favorite foods fighting you? fight back fast with tums. calcium-rich tums starts working so fast you'll forget you h heartburn. ♪ tum tum tum tum tums

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will answer some of your questions, and help you find the aarp medicare supplement plan that's right for you. bill: so now we're going to get new problems for president obama's pick to be america's next defense secretary. allegations surfacing today, that former senator chuck hagel claimed in his speech that the u.s. state department is controlled by the israeli foreign ministry. eric sean with the latest. what did he say? >> reporter: good morning, bill. there are reports of comments said to be made by chuck hague el adding to the controversy about his plan to become defense secretary. the latest is from a speech he gave at rutgers in university in 2007. that speech apparently not recorded but is reported as having said that the u.s. state department has become an adjunct of the israeli foreign ministry office. it was reported by george ajan. a former new jersey

republican candidate and an international consultant. this morning he told fox news he attended the lecture and thinks hagel is expressing frustration with u.s. mideast policy. >> i think at the time the comments reflect his frustration with the way the american foreign policy was conducted in the middle east and i don't think they indicate some kind of unsuitability to be secretary of defense. i think he would have been is wiser to state it as he did on other occasions saying he could have good relations with israel and at the same time good relations with other countries but stay true and look out for america's interests first. >> reporter: ajyan blogged about the comments at the time but despite he supports hagel's nomination. bill: what is the reaction we're getting on capitol hill? >> reporter: senator lindsey graham opposes hagel's nomination. he heard about the comments and wrote a letter to hagel on "fox news sunday" yesterday. hagel responded but he does

not remember making the remarks but he now disavows them. gram has concerns about that and other comments. >> if the second statement were true he said that the secretary of state's office under the control of israeli foreign ministers. those two together would show an edge and view of the israeli-u.s. relationship way out of the mainstream. >> reporter: graham said he will take hagel at his word. bill? bill: eric sean, with news that is breaking this morning. jamie? jamie: bill, thanks. new questions about transparency within the obama administration as the white house press corps expressing frustration after being barred from the president's weekend bofl trip to florida. by an administration that once promise, you will recall, complete availablility to the american people. here's the president in 2009. >> the way to make government responsible is to hold it accountable. and the way to make government accountable to make it transparent so that

the american people can no exactly what decisions are being aid made, how they're being made, and whether their interests are being well-served. let me say it as simply as i can. transparency and the rule of law will be the touchstones of this presidency. jamie: jonah goldberg is editor-at-large at "the national review", a fox news contributor as well. jonah, great to see you. >> great to be here. jamie: what about it? it's a long holiday weekend. the president is on one vacation. the mrs. obama and the girls are on another. we don't see a picture or hear much about what is going on? >> i'm off reservation on this one. i don't really care where the president goes on vacation and all of that. and i think that, if he didn't have the issues of hypocrisy and double standards involved, i really, i couldn't care less about obama going off or even going on separate vacations from his wife or even going off and playing golf with tiger woods a week after he talked in the state of the union being how important it

is to be a good father. so, i mean all those double standards and stuff are important. what bothers me i guess, here you have the press corps, including ed henry who does a great job of for fox, complaining about not getting a photo-op with tiger woods. i would rarity them complain about lack of answers on benghazi or earth issues. jamie: this is what ed henry said on behalf of the white house correspondents association. i can say a broad cross-section of our members, from print, radio, online and tv today expressed extreme frustration to me about having absolutely no access to the president of the united states this entire weekend. there's a very simple but important principle we will continue to fight for today and in the days ahead, transparency. that from ed henry. the question is, what if we want the as press to ask questions on benghazi or anything else and didn't have access to the president for the entire weekend by the administration not allowing it?

>> yeah. you know, i guess still my problem is, is that this strikes me more of the fact that it is such, sort of a entertainment television exciting thing that the guy was off playing golf with tiger woods. there are a lot, i think presidents should be allowed to have the vacations they want to have. i think barack obama take as remarkably large number of vacations, far more than the press likes to talk about. i think the fact that, george w. bush basically had to give up golf because of the appearance of impropriety, and the first president george bush was harassed constantly for golfing during a bad economy while barack obama is treated as if he is entirely entitled to go off and have these kinds of vacations. that double-standard really bothers me. jamie: you said it yourself -- >> president should be able to go on a vacation. jamie: put the golf aside for a second. >> sure. jamie: even if he were at camp david, you said yourself it is hip pock chris aand double-standard.

>> right. jamie: what about we played one clip about transparency but there were many? >> i think barack obama set the standard for transparency in the same way bill clinton entered office say he would have the most ethical administration in history and he lived to regret saying that. i think it is ebb tirely fair to hold barack obama for the standards he set for himself. setting a standard that doesn't let you take a three-day weekend to go on vacation when you're president of the united states is silly but if that is the standard he sets, that i'm in favor of. there is lot of opportunities to shout questions at united states. with the exception of fox news and couple other outlets it is questions they don't get it showed to him that bother me more than letting him have a week off. jamie: i want to ask you a question about what about the company a president keeps? what do you think? >> i think it's pretty embarrassing. i remember, there is republican convention some

guys on msnbc thought that senator mitch mcconnell was racist in attacking president obama for playing golf because the republicans were quote, according to lawrence o'donnell trying to associate the president of with the united states with the lifestyle of tiger woods that is outrageous. here is the president of the united states sharing his life-style with tiger woods and no one remembers any of that kind of stuff. the hypocrisy and double standards from the left are ridiculous. this is guy who had almost a bacnalian relationship with porn stars i don't know the president of the united states should be spending a golf weekend with him. jamie: thank you, jonah. bill: maybe that last point, you don't want a picture giving that history. jamie: good point, bill. bill: questions still not answered in the benghazi attack and why john mccain was all fired up about this did you hear? >> confusion?

>> do you care, david? i'm asking you do you care? i'm asking you do you care whether four americans died? jamie: plus the passengers are back on try land and they're relieved. so what are they doing now? here come the lawsuits? do they have a case? we'll speak to one of the passengers and his attorney next. >> something you just can't even put into words. best time of my life, the most miserable time of my life. the most, i can't even put it into words. people helping people. tremendous -- crewmembers were fabulous. grad to be home. ine, marching band playing ] [ male announcer ] the rhythm of life. [ whistle blowing ] where do you hear that beat? campbell's healthy request soup lets you hear it... in your heart. [ basketball bouncing ] heart healthy. great taste. mmm... [ male announcer ] sounds good. it's amazing what soup can do.

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i'm asking you do you care whether four americans died? the reasons for that? and shouldn't people be held accountable for the fact that four americans -- >> you said there is cover-up. a cover-up of what? i'm asking you a cover-up of what is it. >> of the information concerning the deathings of four brave americans. bill: it was hot. that was senator john mccain clearly with "meet the press" host david gregory over the weekend. kt mcfarland, fox news national security analyst and former secretary of defense during the reagan administration. general jack keane is a retired four-star general, former vice chief of staff from the army and fox military analyst. good morning to both of you. ladies first, what is up, kt. >> of course it was a massive con cover-up. they were blind, they were deaf and dumb, will fully deaf to the repeated calls from the security chief and the ambassador this was a dangerous place to be.

they were will fully blind when the attack was going on because they were dumb. we topple addict tate tore without any idea what would come afterwards. what came after resurgent al qaeda and a failed libyan policy. why did they cover it up? there was an election? what couldn't interfee with an election? a little reality. bill: september 11th. you're two months before the election. what do you make of the back and forth and the point mccain was trying to make there. >> i talked to senator mccain a number of times on benghazi and other leaders like him. their frustration five months after benghazi we still do not have an accounting and accepting of responsibility. i think the story would go away if the white house and the state department admitted now they had the story wrong initially. given the fact that is the cia, department of defense and their own embassy knew there were a terrorist attack and telling another story far too long. number two if the state department would admit they

did not have appropriate security there despite a deteriorating security situation and that, they were responsible for the lack of protection there. and finally, even the dod, bill, the fact is, that the dod understands threats. they knew that situation was deteriorating. they were much aware of it. the ambassador himself said they couldn't sustain an attack. the do do. d could have -- dod could repositions forces and put forces on alert. call the state department. here's what we got. we understand what our forces can do and can't do, can we help? none of that was done. i don't think it is sufficient to stay the state department never asked. if that kind of accountability was out there, i think the story goes away. bill: kt, what do you make of that? how much does it bother you that we still do not have a full accounting what the president did that night? we know he had a meeting that ended at 5:30. we know that he had a telephone conversation for about an hour with benjamin

netanyahu. >> in my experience when the president of the united states decides he is not interested in something or doesn't want to take an action, he goes, he goes silent. that's what happened. when they had the briefing of from the chairman of the joint chiefs of staff and secretary of defense while the attack was going on, the president said, you guys handle it. get back to me later. what signal does that send? the secretary of defense, and the chairman of the joint chiefs of staff will not commit american forces to any kind of a rescue mission. they will not do anything unless the president specifically tells them it is okay to do it. that conversation never happened. so while that attack was going on, nobody knew if it was going to be two hours, four hours, two days, two months, hostage rescue mission. nobody knew when it was started. but when the president said don't bother me, in effect, what he really said whatever happens, and we're not getting involved. and i think that is the serious thing that has come out in the last two weeks. the president wasn't there. bill: what do you think about that, general? >> well, i actually agree with what kt is saying.

the fact of the matter is, the reaction that we had, the lack of forces on alert, the fact that forces were not available, to get there in time certainly put a whole spotlight initially on the policy as kt mentioned was wrong but also on africom's role and the amount of resources it should have. i believe the department of defense is about fixing that. this is a volatile part of the world and they have been on a diet since they were create ad number of years ago. they have got to get appropriate resources to deal with that part of the world. bill: you know lindsey graham and others say this is the reason why they won't approve chuck hagel about. you wonder as the days go by as to whether or not that nomination is in danger? mccain says eventually he will go through. that is the point he made with david gregory yesterday. yes or no kt, does he? >> yes he does but he is a very weak secretary of defense which will not be the guy the president needs to cut defense, deal with military and deal with capitol hill.

bill: so that is yes. general, you say too or not? >> i don't get involved in the nomination process. it is political and i stay away from it. bill: you're probably pretty smart about that. maybe some others can learn a lesson. general, thank you, kt thank you as well. >> all right. bill: 12 minutes before the hour. jamie. jamie: bill, thanks. it is an unthinkable act when a grown man slaps a 2-year-old in the face? criminal charges are not the only problem for the suspect in this case. bill: also danica patrick making nascar history. all the drivers in next week's daytona 500, they are all men and they trail her. we'll explain why. it has never happened like this before. >> i'm proud of all the hard work that goes into making a poll car. it is not just turning left. it is so many other things. it is all attention to detail these guys put in over the winter. hendrik gave me a great engine and this is a fast

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bill: there is more fallout for apairline passenger accused of slapping a toddler and the toddler did not belong to him. police say 2-year-old jonah was crying on board that flight as he and his mother were getting ready for landing. that is when they say the passenger sitting next to them, joe, ricky hunley, slapped jonah's face and using a racial slur and telling jonah's mother to shut him up. here's the mother. >> he looked at me and really hateful way and he said [bleep]. i said, what did you say? because i couldn't believe that he was say that. he fell on to my face and his ear, or his mouth was in my ear and he said it again. but even more hateful. and he was on my face so i

pushed him away. bill: bennet says that hunley appeared drunk and reeked of alcohol. he has been charged with assault and is already lost his job. jamie: danica patrick made auto racing history in daytona. it doesn't get more exciting than this. the first woman to qualify with the top spot in a major nascar race. she did it for the daytona 500. that is one of the biggest racing events of the year. bill is so excited it is coming up and it means all the drivers get into the position at the starting line next week lining up behind danica. she says that's when the action will really begin. >> there is lot more left. the race is where it is really at to get to the end and to have a fast car and be in the right place at the right time but this speaks volume about stuart haas racing. it shows what a great organization it is and when you put a good group of

people together what can happen. jamie: wow! lucky number ten. joining me on the phone, clara lang, hope of sirius xm's nascar radio. she actually interviewed danica after taking the pole position. great to have you here, claire. what did she say? >> well, i'll tell you danica was ecstatic of course. she talked about nice to hear families talk about the fact that a little girl might say, but, mommy, daddy, there's a girl out there. they could have a conversation with your kid and you can do anything you want and be different. allow you to follow your dreams if you're different. i would love to thing think that conversation happens in house holdings because what i'm doing. jamie: the last woman to be a high-profile in a race was janet guthrie. why has it taken so long? do men have the advantage. >> it is difficult. women are getting into the feeder ranks leading up to get to the experience where danica is and she is indeed

in great equipment. janet guthrie head held the record for a top starting position for a female nascar driver twice, 1977. started 9th at talladega in august '77 and bristol motor speedway never august of '77. so you're right. i is a huge mark. i was down on the grid for sirius xm after drivers came after qualifying. as she stepped from the car and laid down the lap of 196.44, there was such a sense her lap would be hard to beat. mark martin and dale, jr., and jeff gordon got out of the cars at qualifying laps, they were saying history would be made today. it gives major exposure to nascar and the running of the daytona 500. i'm really proud to be out there covering it the moment it happens. jamie: not that they don't have an incredible fan base already. how will she do next week? >> it is hard to tell. they have a very fast car. everybody in the ga raj has been talking about that. there is a lot of pressure

on her. last year she has said was her worst race weekend ever. it was on the list of the worst ever. she crashed in the dual races. she crashed in the 500. but this boosts her confidence. she is feeling much more this year. jamie: love it. >> more racing under her belt. much more ready to go i think. she is in very, very good equipment that has been really fast in daytona. hard to tell with the daytona 500 who might pull it off. certainly doesn't hurt to stop from the top of the pack. jamie: i'm excited as you are. we'll be watching. thanks so much. >> a pleasure. thank you. bill: she will be driving the chevrolet all fired up. how many times has a person on the pole win the race? if we can get that answer, send me a tweet @billhemmer. get that on the air. jamie: good question. bill: see what i'm saying? know what i'm talking about? ten days to go until a series of budget cuts take effect but congress is on vacation, well, the president's plan, he is playing golf in florida with tiger woods. are both sides throwing in the towel?

the best and worst case scenarios with karl rove. he is next guest life new honey bunches of oats greek yogurt and whole grain.

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karl, good morning to you.

seems like there is no you are again sir, right? seems like some, maybe many in washington want this to happen. do they? >> i think everybody wants it not to happen. the question how do you avoid it happening? the only actors who laid for the a proposal and voted on it is the house of representatives. the house has twice passed a bill called the spending reduction act that would replace these the $85 billion in across-the-board cuts with $300 billion plus of smart cuts spread over several years and the house has passed this. the senate has never taken it up. as wendell said, wendell goler said the democrats in the senate, the senate leadership is offering a proposal but left town without bringing it up for a vote. it is unclear whether it could pass the senate. interestingly enough the man at the center of all this, the guy whose idea it was to have a sequester, these across the board haircut, the president, has never even bothered to offer a

proposal. last week there was an interesting colloquy between senator roger wicker of mississippi and the congressional budget director, douglas elmendorf in which wicker said, how much is the president's proposal to be costed out by you? elmendorf reaffirmed, we never received a proposal from the white house. we can't score a speech. the president has no proposal he laid out there and time is running out. we had eight teen months. we're down basically the last two weeks of business. bill: so if that is the case you're looking at ten days on the calendar. >> yeah. bill: what happens on the 1st of march? what are the anticipated effects of these cuts do you believe? >> well there's 42 1/2 billion in cuts in the defense budget and there is $42.5 billion in discretionary spending the big one, the program problemtic is the defense budget because the defense budget is into into a number of accounts.

without congressional approval you can't move money from one account to another account. you have a ship building account. the spend out is next five years and maintenance and operations which is it your current activity you can't move from the long spending account to the short spending account would you explicit congressional authority. this causes enormous ramifications. the lack of flexibility on the domestic side has similar consequences. you can't move things from less important things in order to make certain essential tasks are taken care of. >> there are others, this is just a drop in the bucket. >> sure it is. yeah, now, remember the sequester affects $85 billion worth of spending. we have a federal budget this year will be $3.5 trillion. that is over 3500 billions of dollars. now the problem is this falls in the discretionary side of the budget which is, you know, a very small fraction of the budget. most of the budget is on

mandatory, autofy lot. congress didn't revisit every year. there are set formulas that dictate how much will be spent. we have a overall spending problem and a flexibility problem. this is a small amount compared to the total budget because it comes out of the discretionary part of the budget it will hurt that flexibility and hurt badly. bill: is there a point of comparison for this story once it goes into effect? is this like 1995, republican shutdown, republicans democrats going at it or is this truly uncharted territory? >> it is uncharted territory but i doubt it will be a government shutdown because we're talking about 2.4% of the government's budget. it is being cut in the last seven months of the budget year. that causes real problems. particularly again, i repeat, if you don't have discretion, if you don't have flexibility, the interesting thing the house republicans are willing to give the democratic president flexibility to decide where these cuts will be by giving him greater authority at

least on the defense side to move stuff from one account to another but, it's going to be complicated. the fact, look the defense department last week admitted they had not planned for this contingency. it has been on the books for 18 months. they hadn't planned for what happens with congress --. bill: ralph peters is coming up in 25 minutes. wait until you hear what he says. it will surprise you. president's day, your favorite least recognized president in history is whom? >> i like james k. polk. think he is underrated and ulysses s. grant. bill: he was one-termer and he said i would serve one term and did. stuck to his word. thank you, karl. >> you bet. and admitted texas to the union. bill: go on. see you later, lone star, karl rove in washington. thank you, sir. jamie. jamie: the white house is facing new accusations of a lack of urgency, chief of staff dennis mcdone now faces tough questions from

cbs's bob schiefer over the death of four americans in benghazi and whether the president at the time was aware the u.s. consulate was under attack. >> was keeping him informed throughout the night? >> absolutely. >> you were? >> not only briefing him and convening the united states government, deputy's committee and national security council we worked this throughout the night. secretary of defense, chairman of the joint chiefs and vice chairman of the joint chiefs worked this throughout the night. jamie: mcdonough said the white house had a quote, robust reaction which h he@attributed to the president's direction the night of that attack, bill? bill: he spent the last 15 years of solitary confinement. the convicted faster mind of the 1993 world trade center bombing is now suing, demand he be allowed to live a regular prison life. ramzi yousef is serving a life sentence and serving four years at the supermax prison in colorado. the attorney claimed the lack of human contact is taking a psychological toll.

officials disagree saying he is still a threat. jamie: a major development to tell you about in a nearly two-year civil war as the european union agrees to extend sanctions on oil, money and arms to the syrian government. all this as a troubling u.n. report suggests that both sides in the syrian revolution are guilty of war crimes, including murder and torture. conor powell is live in jerusalem covering this. conor, does the report accuse specific leaders of war crimes? >> reporter: jamey, no. the report actually stops short of that. the actual list of violators remain as secret. the report only concludes that syrians in leadership positions are likely responsible for war crimes. but it did say both sides are violating international law. investigators accuse syrians of murder, torture, rape and hostage taking. though the report says rebels are responsible to a lesser extent but it did blame the rebels as well but

it also warned that the bloody civil war is spiraling downwards at a rapid pace as the violence becomes sectarian and fighters on both sides more radicalized. the overall message, jamie, the fighting is bad and getting worse. jamie: keep us posted. thank you so much, conor. bill: there is a new perspective in washington's fight over military cuts. we'll ask a former colonel who says it is time to let some of the cuts kick in right now. we'll explain why. jamie: interesting. terror at 300 miles an hour. how a driver whose engine exploded managed to walk away. bill: this was a matter of time. after price of a horrific cruise, comped for 500 bucks for all the trouble, passengers on board triumph are lining up with a lawsuit. why their case may be tough to prove we hear. >> if somebody came to me and said, i was on that ship and i want to sue carnival for this, will you take my case, my answer would be no. [ male announcer ] to many men, shaving can be a sensitive issue.

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bill: check out the video here a massive fire burning out of control at a recycling center in tampa. firefighters and hazmat teams have been fighting this since earlier today. piles of an unknown type of metal are burning fueling the flames. to make matters worse firefighters are trying to keep the fire from spreading to nearby diesel tanks. that would be a mess. no word on what started that fire. jamie: off the ship, straight to the courthouse. four days they were stranded on a crippled cruise ship with overflowing toilets, stifling heat and lines for food that had already gone bad, they say. several passengers are suing carnival cruise lines for that trip. while the trip was certainly a nightmare do the passengers really have a case? joining me now is one of the passengers suing carnival and he's brought along his attorney mike winkleman. great to see you gentlemen,

great to have you here. >> thanks for having us. >> matt, how are you doing today? >> i'm doing s okay. my wife is still feeling sick from being on the cruise. she had food prisoning twice while she was there. jamie: i understand how difficult this trip was. i'll save the viewers things like why it was a human petri dish as some people have said, but if i could have you, mike, many attorneys say that especially under maritime law, which is your expertise, that when you buy the cruise ticket and you sign whatever paperwork you do, you agree if there is any problem on the ship you accept a refund and that's all you get. why are you filing suit, then? >> well that is not what the consider says. i'm surprised to hear a lot of lawyers that. perhaps they are not as young or high working as i and my firm are. we take a lot of pride in doing the right thing for people like matt and his wife and the thousands of people on that

cruise that were really taken advantage of by carnival. they are tough cases and unique cases but i'm looking forward to the fight and i think we should be able to make a positive recovery, certainly a lot better than the measly $500 that carnival is offering to all these passengers. jamie: did your client accept the 500? >> of course not, no. jamie: you were already on the case, you advised him not to? >> well, i mean i can't tell you what i did or didn't advise my client i would advise everyone on that ship to not take the $500. i would point out that the people on the costa concordia over a year ago even if you were uninjured just being on the cruise ship they offered you $14,000. how do you go from $14,000 to five days of a living nightmare. jamie: there is even a patient's bill of rights for airlines if they keep you on the tarmac they have to pay fines and you might be able to recover, but in this particular case, let me put my lawyer hat on, this is not my

area of expertise, maritime, you need to prove intentional negligence especially for a recovery of emotional distress in this case. yes or no and how will you do that? >> you're mixing concepts. there are two different theories, one is intentional infliction of emotional distress the other is negligent infliction of emotional distress. to point the intention tphalt it would be that carnival knew what was going on, they were 150 miles off the coast of mexico and instead of just turning around and going to mexico they intentionally decided to drag them across the gulf of mexico about 500 miles because it was more beneficial to them. why didn't they take them to galveston, texas where i are which is where the cruise started. why did they force them to be on the ship for seven days and on a bus for five hours: they are distinct concepts under the law and the suit that was about to be filed will seek damages for both of those remedies. jamie: i understand you're going to try to certify your client

and others as a class and bring a class action. let me ask you, matt at this point, when you were on that ship, and i'm sure, mike, that the cruise line will bring this up in defense, did you feel that they were doing everything they could to try to help you get through this? >> we -- we tried to to as much as we could just to manage through it. you know, they -- the things -- the two things that really concerned me are the unrefrigerated food that they were serving, which my wife got food prisoning twice for the lobster, like i said before they served, it was decayed. i didn't eat it, as soon as they served it to me i just left it on a plate but i know, i saw plenty of other people eating it because that's the only thing they had. and then when we were down into the medical area the conditions

down there weren't very sanitary as well. that's something that hasn't been mentioned before, not using gloves, not using gloves to do iv's. i saw a bloodstain on a clean sheet that shouldn't have been there, clearly. jamie: i under, and i under your wife needed two iv's for hydration, and the situation was definitely horrible. the question is whether or not it's actionable and you can recover. your lawyer seems to have everything under control. we are going to follow the case, mike and matt, thank you. >> thank you. >> thank you. jamie: there will be more of these. bill: 4,229 on board? there will be a few more. there is growing concern about the president's healthcare law. why we are learning that some believe a new tax is rev srapblging part of thravaging part of the medical industry. jamie: a car explodes into a

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jamie: it almost feels like a salute is in order, bill. it is president's day today, and you might be surprised to know it's still officially named for our first president. washington's birthday is what the feds call it having been originally established on george washington's actual birthday of february 22nd. then it became a federal holiday long after his death in 1799 and was later moved to a monday to make for more three-day weekends. why is it called president's day then? basically it's all margareting. abraham lincoln's birthday comes before the holiday on

february 12th, president washington's just after. bill: a new tax could be having a big impact on american business. this is the medical device tax. it's part of obama care and there are growing concerns that it could result in some big layoffs. steve brown is on that story in chicago. medical device tax, 2.3%, what is the effect of that 2.3%, steve? >> reporter: well no medical device makers, bill, really like this tax. for the bigger ones they can can weather it but for the smaller ones it's real trouble. there are places like orthoopeadrics that say this tax being collected this year is going to all but wipe out this company's bulge stair reitem for research and development. >> for us to stump up the money to pay for it we've got to cut everywhere. we can't take it all out of

product development. we won't be doing much product development. what is tragic about that is that it impacts patients, the impacts the kids. >> kids like brye. he has satisfactory raoebl pau satisfactory raoebcerebral palsy, but he can walk thanks to these implants. it's these kind of implants 0 that do these innovations that may suffer. bill. bill: the independent tkraoe has been up in arms over this for the past three years. is there anyway something like this could be repealed? is there an effort to do that? >> reporter: there have been continuous effort to try and repeal it last year and this year. you may recall even before obama care was passed both minnesota senators were up in arms about this. but both voted for this. show did joe donnelly the new

democratic senator from the state of indiana who voted again for obama care. >> no bill is perfect, but we were able to obtain healthcare for thousands and thousands o thousands of hoosers. and we were able to accomplish seeing the growth of the medical device industry in our state and see them continue to flourish and grow. >> reporter: donnelly its leading an effort in the senate to try and repeal that portion of the tabgts. he say tax. he says in discussions with the white house that the white house is new listening. the president says it's a trade off the tax for the medical device manufacturers but they get access to 30 million more potential customers. device managers say it's not that simple. the tax is now the added benefit of more people in the insurance pool that comes later and that is more bottom line pressures for them. bill: they are not happy. steve brown on that story out of chicago today. thank you. jaime. jamie: an interesting transition to talk about bourbon and

bourbon drinkers out there, you've revolted. and guess what maker's mark is listening. the backlash that you caused will have them change their mind. we'll pell you why. bill: an opinion you won't hear often. lieutenant ralph peters here to say why he thinks slashing $50 billion in the defense department could actually be a good thing. stay tuned. flo. hoo-hoo! watch it! [chuckles] anyhoo, 3 million people switched to me last year, saving an average of $475. [sigh] it feels good to help people save... with great discounts like safe driver, multicar, and multipolicy. so call me today. you'll be glad you did. cannonbox! [splash!]

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bill: the looming sequestration cuts almost $50 billion from the

defense budget this year starting the 1st of march. that is something the pentagon insists would hollow our military and put our national security at risk. there is one retired army officer saying that congress is giving the defense industry a blank check and it need to stop. lieutenant colonel ralph peters. good morning to you. >> good morning, bill. i think. bill: you think what? >> i think fox viewers know that i'm a hawk on defense but i want taxpayers and our troops to get a fair dl. bill: i tell you what, you are a talk on defense and that has been your reputation. that is the way you talk every time you come on tv, however in this piece you write the following, the last straw came earlier this month when our navy as you tan day shus lee cancelled the deemployer of a carrier in the persian gulf yelling poverty. you write it's a terrible idea and i'm for it. now explain. >> i was absolutely stunned when

the chief of naval operations, with the approval of the chairman of the joint tphaoefs abruptly canceled the deployment of the super carrier u.s.s. harry s. truman to the persian gulf for the sole purpose of pressuring congress in the sequestration. he undercut our national strategy visa see iran. telling iran we are too poor to fight. they are saying we don't have gas money. think how low we've sung when the chief of naval operations pulled a stunt like that. in 1943 after pearl harbor the pride of our fleet was at the bottom of the ocean in pearl harbor. those tin can skippers in the destroyers said we can't fight the japanese until we have more money. they would have gone to tokyo bay to fight the japanese if they had to row. now we have a chief of naval

operations, undercuts our national strategy to try to bully congress to give him more money. it's got to stop. bill: the way you talk is almost as if you say this is a wake up call. >> well it is. that's why i am reluctantly foresee questions tracing. it's going to cut muscle and bone along with the fat. but the generals and admirals won't stand up and cut the real fat. and congress gets its share of the blame because congress, boy, those guys love to pose with the troops for photo ops. when it comes time to vote they don't vote to keep the troops in uniform they'll cut 20,000 troops to keep 20. bill: the house republicans voted twice to avoid the sequestration and eventually we are back to the core, that is his argument. bob woodward was making the case yesterday that the president came up with the idea he proposed it to harry reid and off it went. in the end all the fingerprints of washington are on this deal in the end. you're saying in fact our navy is too pau small, you want a

bigger one, buy bigger, cheaper, faster ships. this is a wake up call for the defense department. how do they learn from this. ralph? >> well, i hope they feel some real pain. i don't want our troops to feel pain. i don't want any honest federal worker to be furniture load. but my god, bill, the waste in the defense budget is enormous, and there is no lemon law when contractors sell us junk. generals and admirals don't say boo about weapons that don't work because they get out and go to work for the defense industry for lucrative salaries, and congress, again, they'll vote to preserve 20 bad jobs in their home district even if it cost us 20 troops. you're absolutely right, everybody's fingerprint is on it and my line to the republican is if sequestration is so bad, why do you guys vote for it? why do you have the guts to stand up back then? i say a playing on bot plague on both their houses stphao.

bill: the military need to make hard choices but refuses. you conclude your piece saying sequestration will do serious heart. you talk about cutting out millions, fat and bone but our corrupt system has already done far worse. it's time for a reckoning. >> honest working people are seeing their paychecks go down. the defense department cannot still say we need everything. i truly believe as a defense talk that if congress would do its part and stop voting selfishly in every dog gone issue we could have a stronger defense and better defense for less money. sequestration is the wrong way, but right now it's the only way. we need defense reform now. bill: ralph peters thank you. we'll talk about. lieutenant great to see you. jamie: a surprise homecoming for haoug an hugo chavez returning

to caracas after cancer treatment in cuba. there were thousands of people in the street celebrating his homecoming fueling hopes that he could return to active rule. steve harrigan live in miami for us. what do we know about his condition at this point and his return. >> reporter: a lot that we know about the condition and still even more that we don't know. we do know that he's back in venezuela, really after dropping out of sight for ten weeks in cuba. he arrived at 2:30 in the morning, immediately taken to a military hospital. it's not clear whether chavez is able to speak. he does have a breathing tube. after a year and a half of treatment, four cancer operations in cuba it's still not public knowledge what kind of cancer he's suffering from, jaime. jamie: do you think he could actually ever return to actively running the country if. >> reporter: that is the hope of the supporters but it's not clear he will be able to. he what's elected in october for six more years. he told the voters he was healthy then but it's not clear

he'll be able to really manage the government. so far he's been unable to attend his own inauguration. and right now there are many analysts who think that chavez has returned not to rule again but to try to manage a transition, a transition to his hand-picked vice president, a man who is a former bus driver, jaime. jamie: steve harrigan live in miami. stay on it for us, steve. stpho: you're on facebook, right? jamie: new jersey are huge. bill: huge. jamiehuge, i've got so many friends. why are you asking? >> facebook must be hitting the like button over there. the social media giant raked in more than a billion dollars in profit but yet paid zero in federal and state taxes. how in the world does that happen. jamie: i've got to get the answer to that one. and also makers mark. you drink bourbon bill? maybe you spoke up. you're not drinking these days. anyway having a new coke moment admitting it has big plans. the ones it had was not such a

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do not drive,perate machinery or do unsafe tasks until you ow how toviaz affects you. the most common side effects are dry mouth and constipation. talk to your doctor about toviaz. bill: backlash now among bourbon fans about forcing a major reversal from makers mark. that company said growing demand forced them to water down the original mix apparently that is a no-no because the fans have spoken. the company says it will not change anything any time soon. >> the pwaou pwraoub r-r pwraourb bon category for many years was slow and no growth for decades has become a shining star within all of spirits. we didn't see that, we missed it. what we heard back was a very humbling, very clear feedback from our customers, and what they told us was that they would

rather this the occasional shortage moving forward than in anyway change makers mark. bill: it's free publicity, isn't it? turns out bourbon makes up 70% of the $1.1 billion in america's yearly exports. the number that could double experts say could double in several years. jamie: we'll get to that in a second. first we have to talk about this stunning report on one of the most famous u.s. businesses as we learn that facebook is raking in the cash and paying almost no taxes. i'll explain. the group citizens for tax justice says the company is reporting more than a billion in pre-tax profits, while likely paying zero in federal or state taxes, and i hear it's not illegal or wrong. apparently they may even get a tax refund of some 429 million bucks. senior economic writer with the wall street juror steve moore and president of penn financial

group matt mccall, gentlemen, great to see you. we are going to talk about makers mark quickly at end. this is pretty serious. steve, how does this happen? >> well, look, everyone knows that our corporate income tax system, jaime is a k colossal failure. we have the highest tax rates in the world and it doesn't collect much revenue. in the case of facebook what happened was that facebook gave away -- it has a huge amount of the compensation that it gives to its workers and executives is through these stock options. i happen to think stock options are a form of compensation that should be expunged and essentially what they did is they loaded up on stock options and the stock options reduced their tax liability to zero. jamie: when you exercise those options, matt, they could be if you sell them after you get them the equivalent of cash. when are they taxable. >> to the employees that receive them once they sell them and they have a realized gain on that they feel out what the cost basis was, then that employee

will have to pay taxes on that compensation. as steve said it's just something in lieu of actually paying out cash to the employees. i like this as well because it gives the incentive to that employee to work harder. the harder they work the more that company is worked the higher the share price and it's better for everybody. i'm a shareholder of facebook just to put that out there. i think this is a great plan. what bothers me is reading up on research this morning 90% of people are bashing facebook. why are they bashing facebook, bash the u.s. government for having a bad tax code if you don't like this. jamie: is it time to rewrite it, matt. >> this tax code needs to be redown. obama is going after the wealthy people saying they need to pay more at the tame time there are so many loopholes for the large corporations. go after these loopholes if you want to fix the tax code. >> it's just not matt and i and you saying this. it's -- president obama has had three commissions and blue ribbon panels that he has appointed that have all came to

the same conclusion. paul volker the former chairman of the federal reserve said that our corporate tax system is chasing jobs out of america, that the rates are that high, it's making america uncompetitive. it's almost unpatriotic and i use that word intentionally to support this tax system that is sending jobs abroad. jamie: at the same time i appreciate you giving me the credit for saying it. i asked the question. i'm not saying anything about it, i only asked the question. i do have a comment on makers mark. 90 proof, 90 proof, and the customers of the pwaour bourbon said don't do that to me. is this a case of a company abiding by the principle the customer is always right or do you think it's an intentional marketing ploy. >> i think it's a of both. when you had that interview on there he said things are so good, why would you change things if they are so good? it could be a marketing ploy. what is the difference 90 proof

or 86 proof, do you really know the difference? but hey the customers know what they want. jamie: i don't think i could take cough syrup that strong. >> you're giving free advertising today, so it's worth it. jamie: just a little, you know. no, we are not. i'm really curious about it. maybe more companies that want to make sure they retain their revenue are going to start to pay close taepbg. when this hit that they weren't going to make the change, speaking of facebook they got 20,000 lives and comments were thanks nor listening to the customer for a change. good move, steve? >> definitely. this is one of our major exports, actually lick or, bourbon and whiskey are two of our greatest products that we produce in the south so i think this is going to increase their markets. i think it was a good marketing ploy. we've been spending the last five or six minutes talking about this. it is free advertising for the company. jamie: you're right, enough. thanks for coming, bye. see you guys. >> have a great week.

bill: jon scott standing by hospitals rolls your way. happy president's day to you, jon. jon: happy president's day to you as well. bill: who is your favorite least consequential president, least recognized president. jon: i'd have to go with karl rove, grant. bill: grant has two in his column. rove took two, polk and grant. jamie: good one, jon than. jon: and he's buried in northern manhattan. country star mindy mccready is dead. gruesome details on the death of oscar pistorious. danica patrick makes history. and president obama gloves with tiger woods. some are not too happy about

this. fox news takes on mccain plus david gregory, and bret baier joins us on the immigration debate. we have a full couple of hours. bill: see you in 12 minutes. okay. saying no thanks to a free lunch, school district backing out of a new federal lunch program, why they say it's not helping the kid' waistline or the bottom line. jamie: and terror at the track. a drag racer turns into a 300-mile per hour fireball. more of this amazing video and what happened to the man who was behind the wheel, next. oh! progress-oh! [ female announcer ] with 40 delicious progresso soups at 100 calories or less, there are plenty of reasons people are saying "progress-oh!" share your progress-oh! story on facebook.

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in tragedy when a racecar exploded into a fireball at 300 miles an hour. the race goes off without a hitch so far and there the finish line. that is when a 5,000-horsepower

engine explodes. the car goes flying down the track into a wall and eventually slides to a stop a few hundred feet later. it's amazing that after all that driver antron brownie merges, look at that from the mangled metal and literally walks away. doctors took a look at him and they say he's okay. bill: that was something else. jamie: it usually doesn't happen that way. bill: lucky, lucky, lucky. jamie: very, very. bill: there will be no going back for seconds. several school district now backing out of the federal free school lunch program saying that the rules, which require more fruits and fewer calories are costing them money and the kids don't like the food anyway. what are the biggest complaints about these guidelines. >> reporter: opponents say the portions are too small. one slice of deli meat on a sandwich, half a slice of pizza. they are forced to serve food to kids that they don't like or eat. students are bringing their own

or buying elsewhere. fooled is wasted and budgets blown. the federal guidelines requiring larger portions of fruits and vegetables and less junk is part of an act aimed at reducing childhood obesity. breesville new york was the first state to opt out. >> we don't have a child obesity problem. our kid are very active. i was concerned with the changes they would scarf up a big bag of potato ships because they are hungry. i'd rather have them have an opportunity to have a good lunch with us. >> reporter: they are going to give kids more of what they want mike meat. bill: some can't opt out. >> reporter: they require on subsidies to pay for the lunches. the less kids are getting free subsidized meals the less they can opt out. a vast majority of schools continue to follow the federal

guidelines. the u.s. department of agriculture released this statement. saying, goat, u.s.a. d. continues to apply flexibility and technical supervision to schools. usda encourages the fuel skwrabl school district that have chosen not to participate in the national school lunch program to take steps to insure this all children will still have access to healthy affordable meals during the school day under the federal guidelines there are no peanut butter and jelly sandwiches. jamie: peanut allergies? >> reporter: possibly that is one reason. the jelly is probably a problem too. bill: thank you, rick. jamie: we started the two-hour show talking about the tragic end of the life of of a troubled country sthar. we have the latest on mindy mccready's shocking suicide. the eerie similarities it shares with the recent death of her long-time boyfriend. new honey bunches of oats greek yogurt and whole grain.

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s. bill: amazing piece of

video. take a look at this. so-called super pod of dolphins, said to be some 7,000 swimming together off the coast of san diego, remarkable sight. there is a tourist boat captain saying the super pod was miles wide. followed the boat for nearly seven miles. >> do we know where they're going? bill: why does it happen like that too? >> meanwhile a california woman who never knew her father received the purple heart and silver star he received during world war ii. he was killed during 1945 while fighting german troops in italy. four months ago the purple heart was found at an apartment building where his wife once lived. for some reason the family never knew about the silver star. yesterday the military presented marco's with a plakon takening the medals, something confirmed what a great man he was. love that. that's a lot of medals. bill: certainly is. have a terrific president's

day. remember the greatest president. the answer to the nascar trivia question last hour. >> all on twitter @billhemmer. bill: how many times did the policy ther like the driver. >> danica. bill: win the daytona 500. >> i know the answer. bill: nine going back to 1958. >> i had a little help with the viewer. bill: great to be with you, jamie. have a terrific holiday. >> thanks for the invite. "happening now" starts for you right now. jon: we begin with brand new stories and breaking news. jenna: a singing sensation final found dead. mindy mccready is found dead. what we're learning about a troubled life cut too short. also a leaked white house plan to put illegal immigrants on a pooth to u.s. citizenship. how it could complicate bipartisan efforts to pass immigration reform. breaking the glass ceiling at nearly 200 miles an hour. danica patrick's